Ceiling Fan Controller Using a Dip Switch to Set Rotation Speed Thereof

ABSTRACT

A ceiling fan controller using a DIP switch to set a rotation speed comprises a rectifying filter circuit, a CPU, a motor driving module, a voltage lowering circuit, an automatic balancing circuit, and a sensing circuit for a DC non carbon brush motor. A DIP switch electrically connects to the CPU to set different maximum rotation speeds for the DC non carbon brush motor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The invention relates to a ceiling fan controller and, in particular, to a controller that uses a DIP switch to control the fan rotation speed.

2. Related Art

The motors used to drive ceiling fans in the prior art are induction motors. Such conventional induction motors have lower efficiency. Therefore, most ceiling fans use DC non carbon brush motors nowadays. A controller is employed to control the rotation speed of the DC non carbon brush motor.

Since there are various kinds of loads on the ceiling fans, the maximum output power of the DC non carbon brush motor is fixed if the maximum rotation speed thereof is fixed. When the ceiling fan is mounted with different weights of load, the motor cannot adjust to an appropriate power output according to the load. For example, suppose the actual load of a ceiling fan is larger than the default one. When the DC non carbon brush motor is still driven according to the original output power, the rotation speed will be decreased or even vanish. On the other hand, if the actual load is lighter than the default one, the rotation speed increases instead.

Therefore, when the load of a conventional ceiling fan changes, the controller has to use different output power to control the rotation speed of the DC non carbon motor in order to achieve a better effect. However, to use appropriate controllers for different loads, vendors have to produce and stock controllers with different power outputs. This will inevitably result in complicated material management problems. The manufacturing process of ceiling fans cannot be further improved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems by providing a ceiling fan controller using a DIP switch to set the rotation speed. The ceiling fan controller can adjust to appropriate output power according to the load, so that the DC non carbon brush motor can drive the fan appropriately. That is, only a single controller is needed for ceiling fans of different loads. This reduces complicated problems related to manufacturing different controllers. Production of a single specification simplifies material management, thereby increasing the fabrication efficiency.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a ceiling fan controller using a DIP switch to set the rotation speed. It can accurately calculate the rotation speed difference when the ceiling fan switches between two rotation speeds.

To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the invention includes at least a rectifying filter circuit, a central processing unit (CPU), a motor driving module, a voltage lowering circuit, an automatic balancing circuit, and a sensing circuit of the DC non carbon brush motor. The invention is characterized in that the DIP switch is electrically connected to the CPU in order to set different maximum rotation speeds for the DC non carbon brush motor, thereby matching different loads on the ceiling fan. After the DIP switch sets the maximum rotation speed of the DC non carbon brush motor, the difference between the new maximum rotation speed and the default minimum rotation speed is divided in equal interval into several speeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the disclosed controller circuit;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of one state of the disclosed DIP switch; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of another state of the disclosed DIP switch.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements.

The preferred embodiment of the ceiling fan controller using a DIP switch to set a rotation speed is shown in FIG. 1. The controller in this embodiment includes: a rectifying filter circuit 1, a central processing unit (CPU) 3, a motor driving circuit 4, an automatic balancing circuit 5, and a sensing circuit 6.

The rectifying filter circuit 1 rectifies and filters AC power into DC power to provide the power for driving the DC non carbon brush motor. In this embodiment, the rectifying filter circuit 1 electrically connects to a voltage lowering circuit 2 to provide the power required by the system.

The CPU 3 is built in with a control routine to process input/output signals of the controller. The motor driving module 4 drives the DC non carbon brush motor of the ceiling fan. The motor driving module 4 is powered by the DC current of the rectifying filter circuit 1. The motor driving module 4 and the CPU 3 are electrically connected to transmit control signals.

The input terminal of the automatic balancing circuit 5 connects in series to the AC power. The sensing circuit 6 electrically connects to the CPU 3 to detect the rotation speed of the DC non carbon brush motor, and to feed back the corresponding signal to the CPU 3.

A DIP switch 7 electrically connects to the CPU 3. The DIP switch 7 has four sets of buttons 70, as shown in FIG. 2. Each of the buttons 70 is under binary control (0 or 1). When each of the buttons 70 is in its lower position, it represents 0 (broken). When each of the buttons 70 is in its upper position, it represents 1 (connected). The DIP switch 7 can set different maximum rotation speeds for the DC non carbon brush motor, thereby matching different loads of the ceiling fan.

For example, when the four buttons 70 are all in their lower positions, as shown in FIG. 2, the maximum rotation speed is set at 120 rpm and the minimum rotation speed at 50 rpm. In this case, the default setting of the controller is for the maximum rotation speed of 120 rpm. When the rightmost button 7 of the four buttons 70 is switched to its upper position, as shown in FIG. 3, the maximum rotation speed is set at 130 rpm. In this case, the default setting of the controller is for the maximum rotation speed of 130 rpm, and so on. The four-button DIP switch provides 16 maximum rotation speeds for the controller. The configuration of the buttons 70 on the DIP switch 7 is controlled by a routine in the CPU 3.

Besides, the ceiling fan can be set by the controller to have several speeds. It is set as 6 speeds in this embodiment. The first speed has the lowest rotation speed (50 rpm in this embodiment). The sixth speed has the highest rotation speed (120 rpm in this embodiment). The speeds of the controller are designed to have equal interval. Using the settings on the DIP switch 7, the disclosed controller can set an appropriate maximum speed according to the load. That is, after the maximum rotation speed of the DC non carbon brush motor is set by the DIP switch as 120 rpm, the difference of 70 rpm between the maximum rotation speed 120 rpm and the minimum rotation speed 50 rpm is divided by five. Each adjacent rotation speeds thus differ by 14 rpm (the second speed is 64 rpm, the third speed 78 rpm, etc). When the maximum rotation speed is the most appropriate rotation speed, each of the lower speeds uses a better setting to drive the load.

According to the above description, it is not difficult to see that the following advantages of the invention. The disclosed controller defines different maximum rotation speeds for different loads, thereby using appropriate power output to drive the DC non carbon brush motor. This can prevent the driving difficulty and over-speeding when the output power is too low or too high. When the maximum rotation speed is correctly defined, the CPU 3 can compute the difference between each two adjacent speeds accurately. The DC on carbon brush motor can be driven by appropriate power at different speeds. The disclosed controller utilizes the DIP switch 7 to set different maximum rotation speeds for different loads. One controller can be used in ceiling fans of different specifications. The production of controllers is simplified. The material management is also easier. As a result, the manufacturing process of the controller is more efficient.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to people skilled in the art. Therefore, it is contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention. 

1. A ceiling fan controller using a DIP switch to set a rotation speed comprising a rectifying filter circuit, a central processing unit (CPU), a motor driving module, a voltage lowering circuit, an automatic balancing circuit, and a sensing circuit of a DC non carbon brush motor, characterized in that a DIP switch electrically connects to the CPU to set different maximum rotation speeds for the DC non carbon brush motor, thereby matching different loads of the ceiling fan.
 2. The ceiling fan controller using a DIP switch to set a rotation speed according to claim 1, wherein the difference between the new maximum rotation speed and the default minimum rotation speed is divided in equal interval into several speeds after the DIP switch sets the maximum rotation speed of the DC non carbon brush motor. 